Violet Cakes

Violet Cakes

I’ve taken great delight in showing other bloggers parts of the East End lately. First up was a trip to Broadway Market with Emm in London. We had such a great time that I couldn’t wait to take someone else there.

So I timed it with my first visit to Violet Cakes in Dalston, followed by a walk through London Fields into the market then along the Canal with Manasi from In her Thirties.

Violet was great – it’s a tiny bakery five-ten minutes walk from Dalston Junction in the heart of a residential area close to London Fields. To be honest, I don’t have a huge amount to say about the place as it was freezing when we went (is it me or did winter seem to go on and on this year?) so we didn’t linger for too long. However, we did share a lovely cinnamon bun, violet cupcake and two salted oreo cookies. As we were both recovering from colds we went for fresh blood orange juice rather than my normal tea. However, the selection of teas was good and I’d like to come back and visit this bakery sometime during the week with my little one, sit outside on their terrace out the back with a book and just enjoy some cake and quiet for a while.

The goods~

Sound good? I think so.

We then went to Broadway Market and I’m pretty certain Manasi loved it as much as Emm did.

Violet can be found at 47 Wilton Way. Nearest tube is the East London Line’s Dalston Junction. All up we paid £13. 

Try me!

Gentleman loves Cake (but not this week): Sam Smith Pubs

The finest pub view in all London

Ladies and gentlemen, this week we welcome back Ed. You loved his last post so much that I’ve invited him to be a regular on here. This post has got me in the mood for summer. Apricot cider anyone? (Sorry Ed, I had to include at least one line of fruitiness in here). 

Sam Smith pubs      

When I tell people I work in a church, more often than not they assume I must be religious.

While I dig the whole spiritual side and adore the music, I really have no faith at all. In fact the closest I’ve come to an act of devotion is a pilgrimage to the small North Yorkshire town of Tadcaster.

Perhaps calling it a pilgrimage is a little strong, but since moving to London four years ago, this small town, many miles away, has been the inspiration for any number of great nights. For Tadcaster is, right at its heart, a brewery town.

Both John Smith and Coors are brewed there, but my interest is in a much smaller and far more interesting name; Samuel Smith, Yorkshire’s oldest brewery at 255 years old and more importantly, independent.

Ok, but what am I doing on Lady Loves Cake talking about a Yorkshire brewery? Well, you’re all well-used to Kat unearthing some of the very best and quirky places to eat and drink in London, and when it comes to interesting pubs, Sam Smith has the monopoly.

Inside the M25, this small brewery runs almost 40 pubs, some of them well known, each of them interesting in its own way.

It’s likely you may know Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a favourite of Charles Dickens; or the Princess Louise, with it’s wonderful duck-under bar dividers; or the Cittie of Yorke, with its intimate booths. If you’ve been on a summer’s walk along the Thames, you may have stopped at the wonderfully situated Angel or the magnificently restored Captain Kidd for some refreshment. And if you’ve been out in Soho, chances are you will have passed the John Snow, now infamous as the scene of the 2011 gay kiss scandal.

First and foremost, all Sam Smith pubs have character.

The next thing to note is what they sell – and more importantly, what they don’t sell. In a pub world dominated by Stella for the boys and Jacob’s Creek for the girls, you won’t find any of that in one of Sam’s pubs. In fact, nothing you’ll find is branded in any way. No Carlsberg. No Smirnoff. No Gordon’s. No Walkers. Everything is either Sam Smith’s own brand or essentially white label.

This may sound odd, and at times it does seem to confuse a punter or two, but what’s on offer more than makes up for what isn’t.  All of the beers are worth a try, especially the Taddy lager and Old Brewery bitter. And some genius also came up with the Alpine lager – all the taste of a good pint but only 2.8% alcohol – perfect for school night drinking! There’s also an extensive range of bottled ciders and beers in all kinds of flavours – I’d heard of raspberry and strawberry beer, but apricot is new on me!

The best find, however, is the gin and tonic – for some reason it just tastes better than a Gordon’s and Schweppes – I don’t know why, it just does.

When it comes to food, it’s straight down the line pub fayre – nothing to write home about,  but big, tasty and cheapy-cheap-cheap. Most pubs run a similar menu, but some are slightly more gastro-conscious than others.

Some of you who read Lady Loves Cake may be regular pub-goers, and others not. All I can say is that if you’re looking for a pub which shows all the best of what a good old-fashioned pub should really be, if you see the white Yorkshire rose, you’re onto a winner.

Ed’s Top 5 London Sam Smith pubs:

5. The Rising Sun, Cloth Fair, EC1A

A cute pub, with plenty of board games

4. The Cittie of Yorke, High Holborn, WC1V

One of the bigger Sam Smith’s pubs with excellent private booths

3. The Glasshouse Stores, Brewer Street, W1F

Like the Tardis, bigger on the inside that you’d imagine

2. The Captain Kidd, Wapping High Street, E1W

Wonderfully restored riverside pub with plenty of history

1. The Angel, Bermondsey Wall East, SE16

Off the beaten track and without a doubt, the finest pub view in all of London

A cat which greets you outside the Angel

Find your local Sam Smith pub, both in London and across the country:

http://www.jamesgretton.co.uk/samuelsmiths/

There is also a Sam Smith pub finder app called: Find-a-Smith.

A mixed review: Bob Bob Ricard

Bob Bob Ricard

I’m never sure whether to post reviews like this – there’s been one or two times when I’ve completely regretted doing so due to the people on the other side jumping down my throat, however, I have decided that this is my place on the internet to write and I am perfectly entitled to publish my own opinions. Most of the time if I don’t like somewhere I just won’t blog about it.

The truth is though, not every restaurant can blow you away, and this is how I felt about Bob Bob Ricard.

First though, I’m going to state this: Bob Bob Ricard is my absolute favourite bar in the entire world. I love their drinks, adore the atmosphere and find it the perfect spot to have a pre/post-dinner cocktail. I was unbelievably excited when Mr Man booked us a table there for dinner on my birthday in January.

All was great upon arrival. In my “condition” at the time I actually arrived early (walking around Chelsea and Pimlico for five hours while seven months pregnant just makes you desperate to sit down and not get up for some time) and they were more than happy to let me take my seat and wait for Mr Man who happened to be running slightly late. The waiter was lovely and brought over some bread and a cucumber & apple limeade while I chilled out.

Yummy cucumber & apple limeade

Their drinks are stunning. It is the only place on earth where I won’t object to paying £7.50 for lemonade; in fact, I actually ordered two and Mr Man had a third when he arrived.

I’d spent most of my time eyeing up what is an impressive menu. I’d basically settled on having beef onglet until he thought it might be a good idea to share the beef Wellington – it did look good. The waiting time for beef Wellington is 45 minutes but that was absolutely fine, they continued to top up the bread, we were never without a full glass of tap water and didn’t pressure us into having a starter. We also ordered sides of mashed potato, carrots and parsnips.

Beef Wellington (there is more of it beside the dishes, but my picture of it was horrid).

However, when it did arrive I didn’t actually like it. I’m certain this comes down to personal preference but I’ve definitely had better beef Wellington elsewhere before. We both felt that the mushrooms in it completely overpowered the entire dish. Also, the middle was close to raw. It was certainly the rarest meat I’ve had in a restaurant before and bordered on cold. So I ate around the rareness (usually this wouldn’t be an issue for me and I’d just dig in) and tried to enjoy the flavours but still felt the mushrooms overpowered everything. The sides were fine, though it did feel very expensive for the portions we received.

Mr Man actually ate most of my meal – he usually does. Though he did feel the same about the flavour.

And voilà, it was time for dessert. Mr Man had a trio of ice-creams and I had a trio of crème brulees (Valrhona chocolate, passion fruit and Earl Grey tea). I absolutely adored these, especially the passionfruit crème brulee and Mr Man’s salted caramel ice cream.

Divine crème brulee

Then the bill arrived. This is where the shock came, and is our fault.

Neither of us saw the fine print under the beef Wellington on the menu. Price was per person not for the dish. We paid £79.80 to share one dish that neither of us actually liked. The problem for me was that most of the dishes on the menu cost between £14 and £30 so we had just assumed the £39 .90 was for the both of us. Nope. When I questioned the waiter about this he brought over the menu and there it was, in tiny pink writing (price per person). We couldn’t argue with that but did leave feeling really sheepish and that we had overpaid for what was otherwise a fine meal but one that didn’t blow us away.

So I’m left with mixed feelings about Bob Bob Ricard. I still think their service was outstanding and still adore their bar, but I won’t be back for dinner. Please don’t let this review put you off – I feel that it may have been down to our own silliness.

Bob Bob Ricard can be found at 1 Upper St James Street, Soho, nearest tubes are Oxford Circus and Picadilly Circus. All up we paid £149.50 for three lemonades, two servings each of bread, beef Wellington, sides of mashed potato, carrots and parsnips, ice cream, crème brulee and 12.5% service.

Guest post: Jen takes afternoon tea at the Old Government House, Guernsey

Old Government House Exterior Image credit: Red Carnation Hotels Media Library Picture reference 8036462

This week we welcome my friend Jen Merritt, a Canadian ex-pat currently transitioning from life in London, England to Guernsey. You may recognise her on here as ‘Canadian Jen’. She holds both Canadian and French nationality and takes advantage of her passports to explore Europe as much as possible. After seeing a Bailiwick of Guernsey ad for Social Workers in a recruitment magazine, she decided steadfastly that she had to visit the island. Two reads of ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ later, she had booked a ticket and consequently fell in love with the island. Visit her blog – She Went Away – where she writes about her travels around the UK and beyond and to see what else she has been up to lately.

Afternoon tea at The Old Government House, Guernsey

The Lady Loves Cake is the subject of many a girl-crush amongst us London Expat Bloggers, and so when she asked me to procure a guest post for her lovely blog I was eager to agree. The difficult part, of course, was to determine the topic of my guest essay – something that would meld my own interests with a topic akin to the theme of Kat’s blog, and of course not wanting to recreate anything that has already been covered. After a few months of pondering the dilemma (and yes, I do mean months – it’s not everyday that one is extended this delightful invitation) I have finally come to a resolution that fits both my own sense of blogging style and the need to appeal to you, dear readers. As such, I bring to you today’s guest post all the way from my soon-to-be-home, Guernsey (in the Channel Islands). Welcome to Afternoon Tea at The Old Government House.

First and foremost, I recognise that many of you may not have read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or have heard of the Channel Islands, let alone Guernsey. Let me give you the briefest of geography/history lessons: Guernsey is an island located 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of France’s Normandy coast and 120 kilometres (75 mi) south of Weymouth, England and lies in the Gulf of St Malo (thank you Wikipedia). The island of Guernsey has a total area of 63.4 square kilometres (24.5 sq mi) and a population of approximately 65,000 people. Although the streets and houses all have French names, native Guerns speak English and have British accents – partially attributable to the fact that they are a Crown Dependency, but also perhaps because whilst occupied by the Nazi’s during the second World War, Guernsey French was all but eradicated resulting in the loss of this native tongue. Guernsey is also well-known as the origin of the Guernsey Cow, which can be spotted across the rambling interior meadows and makes a delightful range of dairy products.

The infamous Guernsey Cow from Jen’s Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/persephonesawakening/7980517895/

Lesson complete – hopefully you feel slightly more educated and enriched. Now, as for the important bit – the Afternoon Tea. 

The Old Government House Hotel and Spa came recommended for tea when I asked the Guerns over Twitter. I learned that it has operated as a hotel since 1858 but was originally the officer residence of the Governor of the island from 1796 – 1842. Shortly thereafter it became known as a posh place for Victorian society to chillax (as Victorians were wont to do) until 1940 when the big bad Nazis arrived on the island and made the hotel their General Staff Headquarters for five years. Despite the turnover of hands, it remains a building full of character and elegance. 

In 1957 Old Government House Hotel played host to none other than Her Majesty – the Queen (of England!) – at luncheon. In 2013 Old Government House Hotel played host to a group of North American Expats – for Traditional Afternoon Tea. Our tea was served in the Sir John Coward Lounge, which was luxurious and opulent and we were treated to our service by a dashing French man who took our coats and humoured my inadequate level of French (“Je vous en prie, Madamoiselle”).

Sitting area in the Sir John Coward Lounge

We had a plethora of baked goods from which to chose as well as some tartes aux fruits, which isn’t typically on offer at Afternoon Tea. And is very very good. The clotted cream is a bit less clotted and a bit more whipped, which is something of a disappointment for one who loves her cream gooey and thick, but I can forgive the Guernsey Cows on this one occasion. Whilst we went during the winter (January, to be exact), in warmer temperatures guests are invited to take tea outdoors in The Olive Grove and gardens of the hotel which is something I would very much like to do when it warms up. Perhaps I will offer to host Lady Loves Cake.

Finger sandwiches, freshly made scones and a glorious array of cakes and delicacies served with a selection of speciality teas along with the finest Guernsey cream.

If you are interested in sampling some fresh Guernsey cream (and Afternoon Tea) at The Old Government House, arriving isn’t quite as easy as hopping on the Jubilee Line to Central London. However, Guernsey is only a 45 minute flight from London Gatwick Airport and it is well worth a weekend break. I enjoyed my trip to Guernsey so much that I am moving my life from London to this little peace of island paradise. Check out the official Visit Guernsey website for inspiration and drop me a line on my own blog if you plan on visiting – I may soon have some local tips to share!

The Old Government House Hotel and Spa
St Ann’s Place
St Peter Port, Guernsey
GY1 2NU. Channel Islands

Afternoon Tea: £15.75 per person

Thank you Jen! I can’t wait to come and visit you. In the meantime, I will read your adventures with envy and compare them to the Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society greatly. 

Afternoon tea at Corinthia London

Whitehall Place’s Corinthia Hotel

Readers, as you know, I’m the London-based contributor for the High Tea Society. I honestly think this is the best privilege I’ve had from starting this blog (obviously with the exception of the amazing people I’ve met through it) and it was only confirmed yet again when I got to review the Corinthia Hotel’s afternoon tea back in January. This post is a slightly amended version of my review that appeared first on the High Tea Society’s website (which contains a much more detailed account of the afternoon). 

One of London’s newest hotels it has taken the finest elements of traditional afternoon tea and put a modern twist on it. I cannot speak highly enough of the Corinthia London.

The view from our table – beautiful!

The entire experience was an absolute delight on the senses and we were treated with such care and attention without being overwhelmed. The hotel, set in the heart of London, a skip hop and a jump from Westminster, Whitehall, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, the West End and the National Galleries, is beautiful and it is quite clear the amount of thought that has gone into every detail – this is very much reflected in their afternoon tea experience. 

Illuminated by a spectacular “Full Moon” Baccarat chandelier designed by Chafik Gasmi, the Lobby Lounge is beautiful and overlooks a maple-lined courtyard which you could sit in during London’s warmer months. It is modern and fresh and, on the day we visited, was filled with the most exquisite orchids.

The afternoon tea began with a plate of finger sandwiches served on artisanal bread and a choice of tea from a very good selection supplied by Tea Palace. We chose the Japanese Gyokuro Asahi and Chinese Oriental Berry along with a glass of Laurent Perrier NV champagne. These were followed by a selection of perfectly sized warm scones and a selection of English fancies.

Tea & sandwiches

The quality of the food was excellent. The sandwiches include a selection of Loch Var smoked salmon, cornfed chicken with ale mustard, egg mayonnaise with watercress, roast sirloin beef and cucumber with goats cheese. The scones were small and perfectly formed, making way for a beautiful selection of cakes, which for us were stunning.

These creations tasted incredible and looked perfect.

Cake stand

For us the highlights of the afternoon tea were the roast sirloin of beef and creamed horseradish finger sandwiches, for which we actually requested more. The scones were perfect. The range of desserts and slices to select from is wide but if we had to choose a favourite, they would be the rhubarb cheesecake and the chocolate mousse log, though the mandarine almendine certainly made us gasp with joy.

The food was of high quality and easily competes among the finest of London’s more traditional afternoon tea establishments.  

Scones

The cakes included a selection of English fancies which included the following (amongst others):

Mandarine Almendine

Rhubarb cheesecake

Rum Baba

Chocolate log

Blueberry Éclair

Mille Feux – Lavender

Chocolate Tower with Passion Fruit Jelly and Chocolate Fudge

Pear Shot Glass

‘English fancies’

More English fancies

Overall, we felt this to be a very unique experience in the heart of London; the Corinthia can easily compete with the best of London’s afternoon tea establishments. No points of detail have been spared in making the atmosphere feel really special, the food was lovely and the service was great. Very highly recommended. 

We were guests of the Corinthia London. Afternoon tea at the Corinthia ranges in price from £21 for cream tea up to £39 for afternoon tea, to £49 and £58 per person should you have champagne and what type of champagne you choose. 

Crocodile and kangaroo at Golden Arrow’s Chef’s Table Meat Safari

Pullman Hotel’s Golden Arrow restaurant

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m open to trying pretty much anything and over the years have come to develop an appreciation of more non-traditional foods, including crocodile and kangaroo which I’ve had once or twice – crocodile in a burger in New Zealand, kangaroo in Borough Market.

So when Lime and Tonic invited me to join the Chef’s Table Meat Safari at the Pullman Hotel’s newly refurbished restaurant, the Golden Arrow, I jumped at the chance and didn’t live to regret it.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I turned up. What it turned into was a sort of supper club. At the table were six others, all from different walks of life who joined the event to try a different London food experience and appeared to be regulars at this type of thing. Despite being a group of strangers, we all got along quite well and were united by a curiosity and enjoyment of food.

As the title suggests, we were seated at the Chef’s table where we could look right into the kitchen (I was facing the wrong way so didn’t get any photos of it sorry) and have our food served to us within moments of it being ready.

The starter was a crocodile cerviche, with lemon, lime, coriander, chillis and mirin. It was thinly sliced and absolutely perfect. I’m a massive fan of cerviche and didn’t expect I would ever have it with crocodile instead of fish. It worked an absolute treat and I found myself wanting more. I’m sure you’re curious – the crocodile tasted like a combination of chicken and shrimp. It was paired with a glass of Cape Mentelle Margaret River Semillon/Sauvignon, a 2009 Australian wine. Obviously I can’t drink at the moment (you should see the size of me, crikey) but the others all seemed very happy with this combination, the Australian next to me raving about it.

Crocodile cerviche – absolutely beautiful.

Next up was the main event, kangaroo steak. Yes please. I’ve had kangaroo before and was intrigued to see how this would come out. Kangaroo can be hit or miss depending on how it is cooked – basically it should never go above medium-rare otherwise what you get is something very tough and chewy. This was the opposite, my goodness, I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven – it was cooked to perfection on the hotel’s Josper Grill which is an indoor barbeque which keeps all the heat inside it, ensuring none  of the moisture escapes, therefore minimising the chances of the kangaroo becoming chewy. Tasting like venison but slightly sweeter, it was mouth-wateringly good and came with an array of mustards, salts and salads, all of which complemented each-other well. Again, the others seemed to appreciate the Australian Clare Valley 2007 cabernet sauvignon that was paired with it.

Kangaroo – yummy.

My plate – kangaroo with a range of mustards, salts, salads and delicious chips. I kept piling up my plate, don’t worry, there was much more than 2 slices of kangaroo and 2 chips! Pardon the blurry picture.

Finally we were served dessert, a delicious panacootta served with rose petal tea jelly, blood orange foam and cranberry biscuits. It was nice and light and finished off the meal well. It came with a 2010 French semillon, sauvignon, muscadelle dessert wine. I can’t wait until I can drink again and match good food with great wines…

Beautiful dessert of vanilla panacotta, rose petal tea jelly, blood orange foam and cranberry biscuits

All in all, it was a fun evening with outstanding food and a chef who was clearly passionate about the direction he’s taking his menu in. Rees Smith has worked all over the world and to influence this particular evening brought in his years working in one of Sydney’s best restaurants. I can’t wait to see what he has next in store as I couldn’t fault the food that arrived in front of me during this wonderful dining experience.

I was a guest of Lime and Tonic but this particular evening cost £30 per person. The other guests thought it was good value for money and we all came away having tasted some wonderful food that was completely out of the box. The Pullman Hotel can be found between St Pancras and Euston Stations. 

Bea’s afternoon tea

Tea and coffee at Bea’s

I know, I know, I’m kind of becoming a stalker of poor Bea (if it helps, several other blogging friends have admitted the same!), but I really do think her cakes are some of the best around.

Friend C has recently gone abroad for six months. By the time she comes back I’ll be wrapped up in the world of babytalk and probably won’t be much of a contributor to my ladies’ fabulous lifestyles anymore, so we decided before she left to go for a joint birthday afternoon tea, just her and I, as we shared the same birthday weekend in January.

We’ve actually done Bea’s for our annual afternoon tea before – we just think it’s wonderful. This time was not a disappointment. I don’t know how they’ve done it, taking Bea’s of Bloomsbury from one great little cafe on Theobold’s Road to several branches spread across London and still managed to keep the quality of the food and service up.

Here’s some pics of what we had on that cold January afternoon:

Tea menu

Quite the wonderful spread

Delicious sandwiches as always

Scones and amazing cupcakes (even if you go in for just one cake, you have to try their red velvet~)

Sweet treats – a meringue, blondie, brownie and divine marshmallows

Fab decor

As I said earlier, the quality of Bea’s has not changed over the years. I love that they’ve expanded beyond cake and do some really fun events at their Maltby Street arch (movie nights, crawfish boils, a Saturday diner~). C agreed with me and when she returns to the UK, and hopefully that means London, we will be back for yet another birthday afternoon tea.

C – have the most incredible trip! I am jealous beyond words, especially as it means you get nine months of summer…

We went to Bea’s of Bloomsbury St Paul’s branch. Afternoon Tea cost £19 each and we were very full and happy from the experience, as always. 

No.1 New Change still decked out with Christmas decorations when we went in January. So fabulous.

Sake No Hana, St James Street

Sake No Hana, St James Street

Following on from last week’s post I’ve decided to keep with the Japan theme. As you know by now, Japan and its cuisine has a special place in my heart so I was delighted when Lalani & Co who provide unique tea for some of London’s most exclusive establishments (and also the people partly behind Tea & Tapas) invited me along to try the way they’ve paired their teas with Sake No Hana’s beautiful menu.

Sake No Hana is three minutes walk from my day-job. I can’t believe I’ve worked in such proximity for years and never realised that such a gem has been hiding there. When I turned up for lunch and sat down I was amazed at the different world I’d entered. The buildings where I work just off Pall Mall have a reputation for being stuffy establishments in some of the most exquisite architecture but it’s an old world, one that needs modernising without ruining the beauty of the place. As N said to me while we were there, it’s places like Sake No Hana and some of the other newer establishments in the area that are modernising it without taking away the unique character that is St James/Mayfair. I arrived early and was very much enjoying a spot of people watching – think a mixture of Japanese and British business men, the British very much in Mayfair attire (there is a style, one that I am not qualified to describe but know them when I see them).

Beautiful decor

The decor is very modern Japan and allowing plenty of light in and great attention to detail – this runs through its attention to the menu right from the teas served, to the sushi, hot plates and desserts.

We shared three plates – California sushi rolls filled with avocado and crab with a delightful crunch around the outside, spicy fresh tuna rolls which just melted in your mouth and roasted truffle duck with crunchy walnuts. All were insanely good and I could have stayed all afternoon and evening requesting more. You know when you’ve hit outstanding quality when it comes to sushi and this is up there with the best I’ve had around the world.

Tea, sushi and roasted duck

During this time, we were trying to work out which of the two teas that the restaurant had chosen for their menu would go best with which dishes. I initially thought the heaver of the two, the Yabukita Sencha would go well with the duck but it turned out to be the other way around with the lighter Okumidori Sencha suiting the flavours of the duck and spicy tuna and the other going perfectly with the California roll.

Yabukita Sencha

Okumidori sencha

The beauty of Japanese tea is that they are lovely hot (but not too hot) and then cool nicely into something quite refreshing, especially when served in the Riedel stemless glasses. I could have sat there just enjoying a large pot of tea. The story behind both teas is that they come from two family owned/run tea gardens, the Yabukita from Kyushu and the Okumidori near Kyoto, which produce small quantities of very high quality tea every spring. I like it when I know where my tea has come from – the story just adds to the experience.

Thankfully there was one more course after such wonderful sushi and duck. This is what took me aback and really sold Sake No Hana to me.

I was left speechless by the raspberry delice, a raspberry chocolate biscuit sphere served with lychee sorbet that I had for dessert. Look at it – a complete work of art, but with a taste that was beyond exquisite (that may be down to my deep love of lychees, a true gift to the world as far as I’m concerned):

Raspberry Delice

We also shared a jasmine honey chocolate dessert with caramelised onion icecream. Again, brilliant and happened to go perfectly with the tea.

Jasmine Honey

It’s a rare thing when you find a restaurant has all courses equally special. I loved Sake No Hana for the food, the friendly, approachable service and decor and can see myself coming back here for as long as I work in the vicinity, but will almost definitely to bring my Japan obsessed sister for a treat when she next visits, and Mr Man for a date.

I was a guest of Sake No Hana but this fact has in absolutely no way influenced my review. It’s great to see restaurants like this pairing with family run companies like Lalani & Co who put quality and family at the heart of everything they do. 

Chapters All Day Dining – Blackheath

Blackheath

A while back when we were going a bit stir crazy on a cold January day, Mr Man and I decided to head to Blackheath and check out Chapters which I’d heard good reviews about. It hasn’t been open that long but has received a Michelin Bib Gourmand and two AA Rosettes.

Menu

Lovely Meantime raspberry wheat beer

At 4pm it was almost pitch black outside but we stopped in and had a lovely meal with friendly service and a nice view out to the Heath. We had a late lunch of a big burger for Mr Man, a salt beef salad for me along with vanilla cheesecake and a brownie for dessert.

Salt beef salad

Mr Man’s burger

Vanilla cheesecake with a very good sorbet

I loved my salt beef salad and Mr Man said his burger was good, however, the highlight was definitely the brownie. It was hands down the best brownie I have ever had anywhere. It had a crispy outside but then oozed out the moment you put your fork in. It was incredible. Absolutely incredible.

The brownie – out of this world.

Would I go back to Chapters? Yes, the service was great and they were very family friendly which added a nice buzz to the place. I’d like to check it out for brunch or perhaps a nice dinner. It was also good to go out somewhere that was outside of my East End/Central London radar and being in the Greenwich/Blackheath area, it would be lovely in Spring.

Chapters All Day Dining can be found just up from Blackheath Station. We were actually given our meal courtesy of the restaurant but this did not influence this review in any way whatsoever. If we had paid, the meal would have come to around £18.50 each.

A day trip to Paris

Beautiful Paris, even in the cold middle of winter

Waitangi weekend 1988. I was seven years old and my parents decided to move us up the road to “the new house”, the name of which remained until we moved out 12 years later. All around our new house were families but I spotted a girl walking up our driveway who looked my age. It took what felt like months in kid years (it was surely a matter of days) for me to knock on her door but I eventually did and the next thing I was playing the witch in her brother’s Doctor Who videos, admiring her Cabbage Patch dolls, competing over how many stickers were in our sticker albums and cooing over their fluffy Burman cat Nimbus. Who knew all the way back then that R and I would still be the best of friends and living on the other side of the world 25 years later (or that 25 years didn’t mean you turned into someone really really old~)?

We’d always planned to go to New York to celebrate a big anniversary of ours and that time nearly came up last year until I found out about my ‘current situation‘ so suggested we go to Paris for the day instead. The next thing we were at St Pancras Station heading across the Channel just for lunch.

How fortunate that we’ve both ended up living in London and can just ‘pop over’ to Europe. Here’s what we got up to:

We did a lot of walking – close to six hours.

Ate Croque Monsieur but with orangina instead of a lovely glass of wine… (also, is it me or does even lettuce taste better in France?)

Walked more.

Ate these incredible things (which can now be found in South Kensington!). See last week’s post.

Walked a bit more

Did tea at Laduree

Walked even further

And further.

Ate the best steak I have ever had in my life. I can’t recommend Grizzli Cafe near Chatelet Metro station enough. Sublime.

Then jumped on the Eurostar back to London after a little more walking.

It was a truly fabulous, unforgettable and wonderful day; one I hope to repeat many times for the next 25 years, or even 50!